How does Soaphead give Pecola her blue eyes?

How does Soaphead give Pecola her blue eyes?

Soaphead is sympathetic. He knows he can’t do such a thing, but he tells her to give some meat to the dog. If the dog reacts to the meat, he tells Pecola, she will get her blue eyes. Unbeknownst to Pecola, Soaphead gives her poisonous meat to feed the dog.

Who is Soaphead in The Bluest Eye?

Soaphead is the novel’s quintessential dirty old man. He internalizes his family’s obsession with whiteness but takes it in a surprisingly pedophilic direction. Just as Pecola associates whiteness with purity and beauty, Soaphead associates whiteness with purity and the innocence of children.

Why is church called Soaphead?

Eventually, Soaphead Church moves to Lorain, Ohio, and claims that he is a preacher. The community is impressed by the way he speaks English and the women believe he is a supernatural figure because of his celibacy. They give him the name Soaphead Church, and he assumes the identity they provide for him.

What is wrong with Soaphead Church?

Like Geraldine and Pauline, Soaphead Church is another example of how the worship of whiteness and cleanliness can deform a black life. His mixed blood gives him a false sense of superiority, which he maintains with delusions of grandeur.

Why does Pecola wish blue eyes?

For example, Pecola, the main character, wishes for blue eyes as a way to escape the oppression that results from her having dark skin.

What does Geraldine represent in The Bluest Eye?

Geraldine’s emphasis on decorum and cleanliness also represents Morrison’s critique of a particular kind of internalized racism and a middle-class contempt for the poor.

What does Soaphead Church do for a living?

A light skinned West Indian man, Soaphead Church is a self-proclaimed misanthrope. After failing as a preacher, he deems himself a “Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams”, and provides counsel to community members.

Why is Pecola named Pecola?

Remember, in the novel we’re told that Pecola’s name is close to a name from the 1934 movie Imitation of Life, which has a complicated story. But it’s about race relations, and it features a little girl named Peola who ends up passing for white because she so hates the blackness of her mother.

How do Claudia and Frieda learn about Pecola’s pregnancy?

Through fragments of gossip, Claudia and Frieda learn that Pecola is pregnant and that the baby’s father is Pecola’s own father. According to gossip, only a miracle can save the baby.

What is the most important theme of The Bluest Eye?

In The Bluest Eye, Morrison foregrounded the demonization of Blackness in American culture, focusing on the effects of internalized racism.

What is the message of The Bluest Eye?

At its core, The Bluest Eye is a story about the oppression of women. The novel’s women not only suffer the horrors of racial oppression, but also the tyranny and violation brought upon them by the men in their lives. The novel depicts several phases of a woman’s development into womanhood.

What is the main idea of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison?

What did Geraldine do to Pecola?

Immediately after the altercation, Geraldine arrives home and Junior accuses Pecola of killing the cat. Geraldine picks up the cat’s body and pulls it toward her face, looking over its back at Pecola. As she stares, she notices Pecola’s ragged clothing, and matted hair.

What type of woman is Geraldine?

Geraldine (name)

What is Soaphead Church’s birth name?

Elihue Micah Whitcomb
Soaphead Church (Elihue Micah Whitcomb)